After months of hype, awards season is finally underway. Critically acclaimed films like ‘The Artist’ and ‘Midnight in Paris’ are set up to win big, as are shows like Showtime’s ‘Homeland’ and ABC’s ‘Modern Family.’

Actors, critics and every guild or association known to man get to choose their favorites. But it’s not as often that we the people get to voice our opinions. What if your favorite actress of 2011 was Emma Stone in ‘Easy A,’ not Michelle Williams from ‘My Week with Marilyn’?

Thankfully, there’s the People’s Choice Awards for the little people out there. The 38th annual edition of the awards show was Jan. 11. About 8.9 million viewers tuned in.

The great thing about the People’s Choice is that it’s just that — the people’s choice. Fans cast more than 200 million votes for their favorites in film, television and music. Shows that would never end up on an Emmys ballot but have loyal fan bases get their recognition.

‘Supernatural,’ which has been on air for the last seven years, is one of the most popular shows on the CW. Critics love it and fans have followed the horror religiously for almost a decade. But because it’s genre television, ‘Supernatural’ would not normally be nominated for anything other than a technical award.

Last week, ‘Supernatural’ won two awards. The show beat out ‘The Good Wife,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘House’ in the favorite network TV drama category. It even defeated its network’s most popular show, ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ in the favorite sci-fi fantasy show.

When a hit like ‘Bridesmaids’ is up for three different awards, I expected the comedy gem to go home with them all. Kristen Wiig’s masterpiece has Oscar buzz, and a sequel is being discussed.

We may have laughed until we cried watching ‘Bridesmaids,’ but we cried with the end of Harry Potter a lot more. ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ went home with four awards, beating ‘Bridesmaids’ as favorite movie and best ensemble movie cast.

Harry Potter also won favorite action movie, against traditional adrenaline pumping flicks like ‘Fast Five’ or ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon.’

The key to a People’s Choice win is capturing the hearts of viewers. Harry Potter may not be the best action movie, but we all have a far stronger connection to Harry and Hogwarts than Vin Diesel’s ‘Dominic Toretto.’ Harry grew up with us, while Diesel’s character barely leaves a mark.

Like Potter, America loves Betty White. I don’t personally know anyone who would publicly admit to watching ‘Hot in Cleveland.’ It still beat FX’s flagship comedy ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.’

Always Sunny may have one of the funniest men on television in Charlie Day, but White’s ‘I’m old and still pretty cool routine’ won her the award. A CNN headline this week even advertised White as ‘still raunchy at 90.’ At this point, it’s practically a federal offense to not love Betty White.

While the Golden Globes and Oscars get all the talk, it’s the People’s Choice that is truly exciting. We’re the ones that choose the winners, not a hundred foreign journalists or Hollywood’s elite.

By the time the Academy Awards roll around, we know who has the acceptance speech prewritten and who’s there to smile uncomfortably at the camera.

With the People’s Choice, we have no clue. Did America decide that this was Katy Perry’s year or was it someone like Adele? Those are the questions that make award shows enjoyable and not a two-hour snore-fest with forced jokes and ‘witty’ banter.

Ariana Romero is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every Thursday. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu. 

Published on January 18, 2012 at 12:00 pm